Plot: Bobo is India’s leading magician. But unknown to even his girlfriend Tamara, Bobo’s life is falling apart. His constant hallucinations leave him with no option but to seek psychiatric help. Going through regression hypnosis, a terrifying story about his childhood surfaces involving a sinister power called Daayan who has not only destroyed his family but also promised to return to haunt Bobo. He chooses to ignore it and move on with his life. Just when his career and love life is at full throttle, enters the irresistible Lisa Dutt. Bobo is convinced that she is the daayan. But is she, really? Or is he just losing his mind?

Promos are good, starcast is good, promotion is good...so how is the film?The curse of the 2nd half strikes again, as it starts off as a riveting t...
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Promos are good, starcast is good, promotion is good...so how is the film?The curse of the 2nd half strikes again, as it starts off as a riveting thriller & ends up as a shoddy Bollywood spookfest.

In an age where Bollywood is churning crap after crap in the name of horror, here comes a film that starts of doing something different. Taking on the topic of witchcraft, Ek thi Daayan delves into the disturbed life Master Magician Bobo, who is always distrubed with flashes from his past.

The first half takes us through his childhood & he tryst with witchcraft by way of a book. Bobo & his little sister try cracking the mystery of their stepmom being a witch & boy does it make for a thriling watch.

The latter half deals with present day Bobo trying to unravel the thoughts haunting him, finding chilling similarities between a new member he encounters & a dangerous past, culminating to the suspensful outcome.

The first 1 hour literally goes past in a whiz, keeping you hooked with edge of the seat thrills & moments. The 2nd is marred by unnecessary songs, cheap shenanigans & a climax that is hugely disappointing.

All performers of this journey are in top form. Emraan Hashmi underplays it beautifully, Huma Qureshi pitches in yet another winner, Kalki looks sweet but the show stealer is Konkona Sen Sharma who's mere stare will have a chill running down your spine.

First time director Kannan Iyer has a superb take which goes awry somewhere. Its still a commendable film and deserves a watch for the unconventional format of horror.

To sum it up, this ones surely deserves a watch. It might not be the best watch out there but its surely worth the ticket price. Dekh lo!

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Has it finally arrived? A great Indian horror film? Two parts yes and one part no. I’m going to stick with the good stuff for now. Yes beca...
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Has it finally arrived? A great Indian horror film? Two parts yes and one part no. I’m going to stick with the good stuff for now. Yes because we have got a horror film that is actually scary and not because it’s always making you jump. The kind of scary that works with the imagination and atmosphere. This doesn’t last for a second but for minutes. Yes because the horror here is derived from Indian folklore instead of awkwardly drawing from foreign myths. Finally.

To be honest, for the first half hour I wasn’t sure whether I was liking the film or not. We see Bobo (why that name?) the magician. He seems perturbed due to certain eerie happenings. We and him want to know why. Then comes the sequence where Bobo goes for an age regression through hypnosis and delves into his childhood. This then becomes a flashback and now I was sure about what I was feeling towards the film. I was not just liking it but loving it. It was so bloody good. I would go as far as saying that this flashback is better than the entire film. Watch the film just for this and Konkona Sen’s amazing performance. If this is not enough, there is also some humor in it! I don’t remember the last time a horror film made such a potent mix with comedy (not unintentional) while being genuinely scary.

Okay I’m going to say it again, the flashback with Konkona Sen is the best mini horror film ever made in India.

Post intermission, I was again feeling unsure about what I was feeling towards the film. The songs were getting more and more unnecessary, especially the awful Yaaram. I was checking my watch. It excels as a horror film but not so much as a film. This is because of the flab present in the last hour of the film. The flab is not caused by the length but the story. The screenplay does not get it right. Bobo and his equation with Diana (Konkona Sen) is wonderfully done. His relationships with Tamara (Huma Qureshi) and Lisa (Kalki Koechlin) do not have an emotional connect and this is the film’s biggest undoing. The past doesn’t exactly come back to haunt him. There is something amiss. While there is a good twist and scary spells, it is almost ruined by repeating the climax that we saw in the first half which marked a great point for the interval. The same can’t be said for the ending.

I’m going to give this film some leeway, horror being one of my favorite genres and having seen so many bad horror films recently; I had been itching to like one. There is also a super cool Bengali doctor in the film who becomes serious and joyfully Punjabi whenever he wishes to. That can’t be a bad thing.

This film could have been the horror film we have all been waiting for and it almost is. I would definitely like to take this as a good omen. I hope it goes down well with the mainstream audience and we see more films about daayans, asuras and rakshasas, not zombies and vampires. This may not be a great horror film but it is indeed a good one. If you are a horror aficionado, make sure you watch this film!

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Verdict - An amazing first half is let down by an insipid second half making for a decent horror flick

Debutant director Kannan Iyer's Ek Thi Daayan breaks new grounds in the horror genre for a hindi film in recent times, yet at the same time, teeter...
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Debutant director Kannan Iyer's Ek Thi Daayan breaks new grounds in the horror genre for a hindi film in recent times, yet at the same time, teeters back to the familiar hackneyed framework of good vs evil to end up in a slight let down.

Blending a psychological drama with a supernatural suspense thriller, Ek Thi Daayan is the story of Bobo, a magician who is haunted by his sisters death in childhood by the hands of a Daayan. An adult with a successful career and a loving fiance now, he find himself face to face with his past, and the Daayan once again threatening to undo his life. Switching from flashbacks to the present, Kannan builds up a beautifully moody eerieness that serves to retain interest.

The first half of the narrative is more of a brilliantly twisted take on a young 11 year old's mind playing with an interest in the dark side and the fear of a new mother in his life. Is Bobo actually seeing a Daayan, or are his stories a figment of his imagination to avoid the change in his family, the question tantalisingly hangs in the air as the director, aided by a brilliant turn by Konkana, take sus through a refreshingly scary first half of the film. What follows post interval however, belies this promise to a large extent, taking recourse to Vikram Bhat school of rituals and mantras and the classic flying evil and triumph of the innocent pure soul.

EKD's is still a unique and successful attempt since for the first time in years, it brings a cultural context to the horror angle in the story. Drawing heavily from the folklore of witches Vishal Bharadwaj and his co writer bring the myths associated with a witches and transplant them into a modern setting (much like RGV in Bhoot). There are the usual jump in the seat shcoking moments as well, coupled with an eerie sense of doom built in equal measure by the background score and the lovely visuals. Then there are the competent cast who carry the film on their shoulders whenever the story falters.

Emraan as Bobo brings a sense of child like innocence to his part, giving out a very matured performance. Huma and Kalki are competent and make good of their screen time. Konkana, however, steals the show, her expresions, her lines, her menacing eyes alone are enough to shiver the spine. While the songs in the movie are impressive, they do marr the pace especially post interval. The insipid climax too is a dampner, leaving you high and dry wondering why the makers couldnt just stop the film with the lovely Konkana and young 11 year old kid's story in the first half.

Ek Thi Daayan begins well but ends in a disappointing whimper. Yet, it is refreshingly ingenuine and well written for most part, making it one of the better horror flicks in recent times. Those who have patience to absorb its mood, Ek Thi Daayan would work brilliantly.For the rest, it is a decent one time watch.